EML Admiral Cowan M313
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Sandown (M101)
OperatorRoyal Navy
BuilderVosper Thornycroft
Launched16 April 1988
Sponsored byBirgitte, Duchess of Gloucester
Commissioned9 June 1989
Decommissioned2005
FateSold to Estonia
Estonia
NameEML Admiral Cowan (M313)
NamesakeAdmiral Sir Walter Henry Cowan
OperatorEstonian Navy
AcquiredApril 2007
MottoAd Omnia Paratus
Statusin active service, as of 2019
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeSandown class minehunter
Displacement450 tons full
Length52.6 m (173 ft)
Beam10.5 m (34 ft)
Draught2.4 m (7 ft 10 in)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) diesel
  • 6.5 knots (12.0 km/h; 7.5 mph) electric
Complement7 officers, 29 sailors
Crew36
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Plessey Nautis M C2 system, later replaced by Thales M-CUBE
  • Type 1007 navigation radar
  • Thales 2093 hull mounted mine hunting sonar, later replaced by Thales 2193
Armament
Notes

EML Admiral Cowan (M313) is a Sandown-class minehunter. Formerly HMS Sandown, lead ship of her class of the Royal Navy, she is now an Estonian Navy ship. Renamed EML Admiral Cowan, she is the flagship of the Estonian Navy and part of the Estonian Navy's mine sweeping flotilla. Admiral Cowan is the lead vessel of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division and also the first of the three modernised Sandown class minehunters received.

History

HMS Sandown was built by Vosper Thornycroft and was laid down at their Woolston, Southampton shipyard on 2 February 1987 and was launched on 18 April 1988 by the Duchess of Gloucester, as the lead ship of the 12-ship class of Sandown class minehunters. Sandown entered service a year later on 9 June 1989.[2][3]

After commissioning, Sandown carried out an extensive programme of trials,[3] and was not fully operational until December 1992, having suffered problems with her sonar outfit.[4] She participated in a number of operations in support of the British fleet, including operating as part of a NATO-led operation between 12 June - 26 August 1999, along with the Hunt class Mine countermeasure vessel HMS Atherstone and the survey ship HMS Bulldog. The operation was intended to clear the Adriatic of bombs jettisoned during the Kosovo campaign. Together Sandown and Atherstone accounted for about 20% of the 93 bombs and missiles that were located and destroyed.[5]

On 16 January 2000 Sandown located the wreck of the sunken scallop dredger, the Solway Harvester.[6] Sandown spent July 2002 on a Joint Maritime Course, after which she deployed to the Mediterranean to take part in the Argonaut 02 exercises, which lasted until Christmas. Sandown was also deployed as part of Operation Telic, to clear mines in the Persian Gulf, and sweep passages into Iraqi ports.

The Royal Navy decommissioned HMS Sandown and two of her sisters Bridport and Inverness in 2005 and, on 9 October 2006, sold the vessels to the Estonian Navy. After refitting in Rosyth, Sandown was formally handed over to the Estonian Navy in April 2007. Her new name comes from Admiral Sir Walter Henry Cowan who led the British naval forces in the Baltic in their intervention in the Russian Civil War, providing naval support to Estonia during the Estonian War of Independence.

Between July and December 2018, the ship went through a modernization programme at Babcock's Rosyth facilities. It was fitted with the Thales Sonar 2193 navigation system and Thales M-CUBE command and control system. Its composite hull and electrical systems received repairs and upgrades.[7] Her sister ships Ugandi and Sakala will also be modernized for a total cost of around 30 million euros.[8]

Crest

The vessel's crest was presented by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 2006 in Tallinn.[9][10] The crest is a red saltire cross on a silver shield and above, a red fleur de lys (lily). The shield is placed into a blue ring which is surrounded by a golden ship's rope. The ship's crest is based on Walter Cowan's family arms. The ship's motto in Latin is: Ad Omnia Paratus - which in English means: "Prepared for Anything". The crest was designed by Priit Herodes.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Armament as HMS Sandown:
    • 1 × Oerlikon 30 mm KCB gun on DS-30B mount
    • 2 × 7.62 mm L7 GPMG machine guns
    • Wallop Defence Systems Barricade Mk. III countermeasure launchers
    • Irvin Aerospace Replica Decoy launchers

Citations

  1. ↑ Laanemets, Ott (2013). "Sandwon-klassi miinijahtija". Sõdur. No. 4. pp. 30–32.
  2. ↑ Baker 1998, p. 946
  3. 1 2 "Ships of the Royal Navy: No. 422: HMS Sandown races ahead". Navy News. January 1991. p. 5. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  4. ↑ Baker 1998, p. 947
  5. ↑ Ministry of Defence (2000). "Annex B - Maritime Operations - Assets Deployed". Kosovo: Lessons From the Crisis. London, UK: Stationery Office. ISBN 978-0-10147-242-5. Archived from the original on 22 November 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  6. ↑ "Trawler wreckage positively identified". BBC News. 15 January 2000. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  7. ↑ "Work completed on Estonian minehunter at Babcocks Rosyth facilities". Babcock International. 31 January 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  8. ↑ Einmann, Andres (3 February 2019). "Eesti mereväe lipulaev läbis Šotimaal uuenduskuuri" [The flagship of the Estonian Navy has undergone an upgrade in Scotland]. Postimees (in Estonian). Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  9. ↑ "Miinijahtija Admiral Cowan". Merevägi (in Estonian). Archived from the original on 23 April 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  10. ↑ "HMS Sandown handed over to Estonian Navy". Shipping Times. 27 April 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2019.

References

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